FBI Agents Tell How They Gathered Evidence to Arrest Nichols in Blast

FBI agents described in federal court here Thursday the tactics they used in building evidence to arrest Terry L. Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case--steps that his attorney maintains violated his constitutional rights.

The agents were called to the witness stand as part of a weeklong pretrial hearing in which the Nichols defense team is seeking to disqualify critical evidence obtained by the FBI during a nine-hour period in which Nichols talked to FBI agents at a small-town police station in central Kansas.

The bombing killed 168 people and injured more than 600 on April 19, 1995, when a rented truck crammed with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel exploded and tore apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Two days later, Timothy J. McVeigh was charged in the bombing after his arrest in Perry, Okla.

That same day, Nichols left his home in Herington, Kan., and turned himself in at the local police station. For the next nine hours, meeting with agents in the basement of the police building, Nichols gave wide-ranging answers to FBI questions about his relationship with McVeigh. Upstairs, the FBI was preparing an arrest warrant for Nichols.

Michael E. Tigar, Nichols’ lead defense counsel, wants all evidence stemming from the interview kept out of the bombing trial. Even though Nichols was advised of his right to remain silent and to have an attorney present, Tigar maintains that his client was illegally manipulated by the FBI.

Specifically, Tigar says, Nichols should have been advised that the agents were using the interview to put together enough information to arrest him as a material witness.

In addition, a Kansas public defense lawyer testified that he twice telephoned the police building to offer his legal services to Nichols but could not get past a receptionist.

In the interview, agents said that Nichols described how he had joined McVeigh in Oklahoma City three days before the bombing. He also told them about his strong anti-government views and his experience in using fertilizers.

Nichols also agreed to allow agents to search his home, pickup truck and several storage lockers. Federal officials said they found plastic barrels in his garage that were similar to those believed used in the bomb. They have also said they found a fuel meter that they believe was used to measure the diesel fuel for the bomb.

The agents also played an audiotape for Nichols on which his 11-year-old son encouraged him to cooperate with the FBI. And later they secretly tape-recorded phone calls that Nichols was allowed to make to his wife and mother.